La vigne au fil des saisons

Our philosophy is to preserve the heritage of our ancestors – the quality and diversity of our terroirs – in the aim of being able to pass it along to future generations.

For more than 15 years now, we have been protecting the biological diversity of our soils. Depending on the vineyard, either we grow crop cover between the rows of vines or we use a plough and grape hoe to remove any weeds.

By making the rounds of all of our vineyards several times per week, we are able to carefully weigh the need to spray or not which thereby reduces environmental impact.

Not only does this environmentally friendly approach to vine management protect the vines and the terroirs, it also allows us to produce better quality grapes.

Our motto: Tradition and Progress
We combine the know-how gleaned from our ancestors with the technical developments of our generation.

The photos below illustrate the type of work carried out in our vineyards and at the winery throughout the year :

April 2019 : Springtime is the season for planting new vineyards or for replacing dead vine stocks.

March 2019 : Plowing : To eliminate the herbs which assured a plant place setting of our grounds during winter but which are from now on unwanted, we plough every plot of land.

February 2019 : Bottling : we filter and bottle the wines at the estate throughout the year.

February 2019 : once pruning was finished at the end of January this year, it was time to bend the fruiting canes by attaching them to trellis wire.

End of November 2018 :pruning began

When the vines are dormant it is the time to prepare for the next year's harvest. In fact, future vine production is determined by the pruning of each plant. Our 6600 vines planted per hectare all receive the same care in the aim of producing high-quality grapes.

We perform single Guyot pruning on our vines.

On each vine-trunk we leave :
- two small pieces of wood with two buds (known as spurs) which establish the shape of the vine and prepare it for the following year's pruning
- one cane with six buds which will bear the year's fruit.

In October, 2018 : Earthing-up : The earthing-up under the feet forms numerous clumps which suppress the unwanted herbs developed during summer. The alternations of frost and thaw during the winter are going to degrade the formed clumps of earth. In spring, a de-earthing will allow to re-level these clumps and to loosen the earth between feet.

In October, 2018: Maintenance of the trellising : the use of plows and mechanical tools imposes a well-kept maintenance of the threads and the posts which have to resist their passage.

2018 : Harvest with my son and my employees.

Grape Harvest 2018 : the harvest began on the 11th of September and ended on the 21th of September.This year, all the conditions were united to give an exceptionnal vintage, generous and full of sugar.

24 August 2018 : first check for ripeness of the coming harvest. Every year before the harvest, we take a sample of grapes from each vineyard what we then press. The juice is analyzed for ripeness (sugar, caidity, pH levels). Every week up until the grapes are picked this operation is repeated which allows us to harvest the grapes at their peak of ripeness and quality.

June-July 2018 : Trimming : the tips of the fruit bearing canes are trimmed so that the sap is directed to the grapes. This procedure is performed throughout the entire summer.

June - July 2018 : Environmentally friendly pest control : we regularly check the health of our vines so as to only intervene when absolutely necessary. Because we are concerned about preserving the environment, the water we use for spraying is rainwater that we have collected.

June - July 2018 : Hoeing : the plough attached to the tractor turns the soil in the middle of the row. The person sitting at the rear of the tractor activates a blade that cuts any weeds that may be growing at the foots of the vines.

04 June 2018 : Flowering of the vines :

Tradition has it that the flowering of the vines determines the harvest date which is supposedly 100 days after the full vines flower. This year it should be the 14th of September.

Beginning of June 2018 : Tying down the branches : this operation consists of lifting up the branches and attaching them to wires so that they do not get broken by the wind.

End of May Beginning of June 2018 : Disbudding: the work consists in deleting unwanted buds pushed on stocks. This method allows partially to regulate the yields and limitate the diseases.

February, 6 2018 : The snow fell on Pouilly sur Loire, imposing a temporary stop to the works in the vines, but first sublimating our vineyard.

Harvest 2016 : Further to the purchase of a press and five new thermoregulated stainless steel tanks, the arrival of the must in our wine storehouse is frow now one only due to gravtity and allows us a better conservation of the aromas.